Notes / Commercial Description:
"This annual favorite is a sublime hybrid of an American style IPA and a winter warmer. The result is a bold brew that celebrates the holidays with an intriguing blend of Centennial hops providing elegant citrus notes balanced by a backdrop of a rich caramel malt body. Dry hopped to amplify the aromas and flavor. Available in 22oz. bottles and draught. ABV 6.5% IBU 68"

Reviews by yesyouam:

Full Sail Wreck the Halls is a very sparkling amber ale with a dense, light khaki foam that has excellent retention and lacing. It has a hoppy aroma with citrus, pine and spice along with notes of orange and caramel. It has a fluffy, smooth, medium body with a slightly astringent, dry finish. It's pretty bitter but not very hoppy tasting. These hops were boiled for a while. Later in the taste is some slightly sweet caramel and black pepper. The finish is hot and boozy. It tastes stronger than it is. This is like a slightly clumsy version of Celebration Ale.

More User Reviews:

Appearance  Orangish-brown in color, more brown than orange, with a decent head. It also has some sediment floating around even though the bottle has been sitting upright in my fridge for at least two weeks.

Smell  The nice, easy combination of pine and citrus hops is balanced well with some lightly-toasted malt. The malt actually is very noticeable.

Taste  This is the first time that I have ever had an IPA that is heavy on the piney flavor and so well balanced with malt. It is a very interesting combination indeed. This one is Even Steven, 50/50, hop and malt, and tastes great.

Drinkability  This was a very unique offering by Full Sail. I personally enjoyed it but others may find the malt a little too much (or unexpected) from an IPA.

Update  I grabbed this 05 vintage on the day it was released to the stores, and man of man does this have a hop bite. The aroma is straight pine resin stank, and it carried its way through the taste like Godzilla stomping out Tokyo. Forget the balance from 2003, this is a hop bomb.

Pours a hazy dark orange with a huge blooming head that sits for awhile before coming down leaving huge amount of lace very nice.Whoa hops and more hops in the aroma some spruce and evergreen dominate with an underlying nuttiness oh man I can feel the tongue curl now,piney and citrusy up front but doesnt hit quite as hard as expected as the beer warms medicinal flavors come thru a lightly sweet caramel malt flavor comes thru but is not in balance with the big dose of hops.A hopheads brew here a big Pacific NW IPA true to form.

A: A medium copper with excellent clarity. A nice head stand of creamy off-white bubble, about a finger high that slowly settle.

S: A moderately-strong hop aroma of citrus with moderate grassy notes from dry hopping. The malt aroma is pretty clean and the esters are low.

T: Like candied citrus hops. Lots of hops flavor and moderately-strong hops bitterness but with lots of balance and none of that harshness from trying to get as much hops bitterness as possible. There is a light caramel malt flavor with a light malt sweetness. The balance is bitter, the finish is dry and the aftertaste is a bit of pine needles and a light lingering bitterness.

M: Medium bodied with moderately-strong carbonation. It is moderately creamy with a light alcohol warmth .

O: A balanced and easy to drink IPA, at least for a hop head. Balance is the most stricking feature of this beer as the hops flavor and bitterness are clearly there but thier not harsh. My favorite time of beer, it's also nice to know you're getting a freshly brewed IPA

This delightfully hoppy and well balanced beer has some really nice fruity notes to it for a holiday brew. I can definitely taste and smell hints of tart cranberry and nutmeg in this. It's very crisp for a winter warmer, very fresh hop flavor leaving my mouth with a great clean feeling.

Orangey-amber color with a sufficiently sized head. Smells like the winter holiday season; pine sap, nutty toasted malt, ripe fruit and a hint of alcohol. Smooth medium body, a little fluffy and a little wet. Wildly hoppy and bitter at first, but then some malt and fruity fla- vors come through. The 6.5 percent is noticeable on the breath, yet is not a distraction. Ripe tropical fruit meets a nutty toasted grain, meets a mouthful of hops.

Hops don't show a whole lot of discretion, which we love; while the malt leans dry, the base holds together quite well. This is sort of an "in your face" winter seasonal.

2004 - 22 oz bottle. Pours a hazy copper-orange with a medium sized fine off-white (almost orangey) head that recedes to a thin skimming that leaves some nice lacing. The second pour has a lot of cloudy yeast sediment.

Its aroma is spicy, piney hops and some musty leather. Some fruitiness (orange) comes out as well.

The flavor is crisp spicy, fruity (orange) malts leading to a musty reserved hop finish. As the beer warms, a lot more hop bitterness appears. There is a kind of acidic medicinal twang to it. The mouthfeel is thin to medium. The carbonation seems a bit low. The mouthfeel has a kind of sharp harshness (maybe from the acidity/medicnal qualities).

Overall, a mediocre IPA - it is not offensive, but nothing special either. A bit too sweet and fruity for me - the orange kind of pervades throughout. The musty yeast is a bit much as well.

My favorite Holiday beer of 2009. Beautiful amber color, crystal clear, nice collar of white lace. The nose is pungent with hops but has a sweet malt backbone. In the mouth it hits you like a typical IPA, but counters that with a bit more malt sweetness than some IPAs. This beer is all about balance to me: crisp yet malty, well-hopped but not astringent. 6.5% alcohol means you can have a couple, too.

Bright orange amber hue, lots of lacing action. Zesty and juicy citrus nose with some malt in the back. Expected a bit more body but it has the body of the usual PNW IPA. Kiss of warmth, assertive hop bitterness, and lots of citrus peel and rind flavor make this beer festive. Very happy I was able to try this brew again, certainly worth getting some.

Copper pour with a light white head. Caramel, pine, and orange aroma. Not very strong, but subtle instead of weak. Hops heavy up front, lots of resin without much citrus. Malt and caramel are close to follow. Finish is a decent blend of both. Decent IPA, especially for Full Sail.

Pours a light brown dark copper type of color, good head, nice carbonation, a little clump left here and there on the glass. Aroma was slightly disappointing, only for the lack of hop aroma if you think of it as an ipa, decent for a winter warmer ya dig?

Taste, it was bitter and hoppy, but the hops didn't have what would seem like an obvious good choice of pine flavor for something named Wreck the halls, winter warmer, ipa etc. . . but it was a substantial beer in the malt department too, not huge, but definitely not thin, plenty of caramel to it. At the price tag of $4 a bomber, it is a beer worthy of a recommendation.

2011 22oz. bottle served in a pint glass. Pours a cloudy orange-amber with a light tan head and lots of visible carbonation. Smooth, medium-full body with excellent carbonation. Excellent flavor of a lightly spiced winter warmer mixed with a West Coast IPA, but marred by a somewhat unappealing, overly earthy aroma.

Never tried anything from Full Sail, but I was in my local beer store this past weekend and this really cute college age girl was stocking up on Full Sail along with a bunch of Stone, Founders, and Bear Republic....She put this in her cart and I asked her about it and she suggested I give this a whirl if I like a good IPA....who doesn't?, so here it goes.

Poured from a bomber straight out of the cooler into a pint glass.

A-Medium veiled apricot amber with a thick creamy ivory head. Average looking brew, but a half point uptick for that nice head that laces well as it goes down.

S-Hoppy orange and grapefruit zest with some sweet caramel malts in the background. When it comes to well balanced highly hopped "C hop" textbook IPAs, this checks all the boxes.

T-Crisp citrus hops with more emphasis on orange than grapefruit here. Semi sweet caramel malts are present behind the dominating C hops, but the hopping is not so overpowering to offset the balance between the two. In addition, there is a fresh juice backbone present throughout the palate that is a nice refreshing twist on the run of the mill IPA.

M-Mouthfeel is spot on for the style.

D-This is a pretty drinkable beer and a damn good IPA. My only beef here is that this is billed as a holiday ale. Now don't get me wrong, not every Yule release need be a warmer or a spiced ale, but this is the type of beer that I would jones for on a 98 degree day in July sweating it out in high humidity. Great for that Midwinter IPA fix, but alas, I won't be grabbing more of these to enjoy during IPA season as this is one to enjoy fresh.

This arrived wearing a crisp, solid shade of amber without much head. Lacing is fairly minimal.

The smell is a solid balance of malt and hops, with pine and citrus very noticable but not dominating. The taste is very good, definitely allowing the hops to take center stage but not neglecting its strong malt base. It's easy to drink, the mouthfeel is pleasing, and the overall flavor is great.

A very impressive head .... 3 fingers....atop a bright golden clear brew. Head remains craggy and takes it's own sweet, long time melting to sticky lacing.
Aroma is wonderfully fresh pine and citrus hops...a little sweet amber malt...but seriously all about the hops. Yet somehow they don't become obnoxious at all...just ever-present.
Flavor follows scent....really fresh and bright pine and citrus hops. A touch of light sweet malt then all back to light and bright citrus.
Mouthfeel seems a little thin but aftertaste is nice and fresh and drying.
This is a wonderful American West Coast IPA and a pleasant surprise for a winter beer.

Pours a bright and clear orange with a small head and some lacing
Aroma is faint bittering hops and malt slightly astringent.
Taste is as it smells, crisp bittering with a nice malt backbone, what one might describe as balanced rather than over hopped like a DIPA, but this is a IPA so I guess its spot on for the style.
Reminds me of Sierra Nevada Torpedo
Nice brew! Cheers